Baseline characteristics and prevalence of HPV 6, 11, 16, 18 in young German women participating in phase III clinical trials of a quadrivalent HPV (6/11/16/18) vaccine.
BACKGROUND
As limited data among German women exist about HPV, Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, we report the prevalence of these genital infections and general baseline demographics of the young German women enrolled in the phase III trials of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine.


METHODS
German females (n = 437; 9-23 years) were recruited among 3 international phase 3 studies of an HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine. We present baseline characteristics, prevalence of HPV-6/11/16/18 and, for women aged 16-23, abnormal cervical cytology and sexually transmitted diseases.


RESULTS
Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae prevalence was 5 and 0.3%, respectively. Approximately 17% of participants had HPV-6, 11, 16, or 18 DNA or antibodies. All subjects <17 years were naïve to the four vaccine types.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the vaccine trials have demonstrated that it is worth administering prophylactic HPV vaccines before sexual debut; however, none of these sexually active German women were positive to all four types and most were positive to only one type. Thus, all women had the potential to benefit from vaccination with a quadrivalent HPV vaccine.
Barthell
Elisabeth
E
First Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology - Klinikum Innenstadt, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany.
Woelber
Linn
L
Hellner
Karin
K
Camerer
Birka
B
Gieseking
Friederike
F
Hauschild
Maik
M
Mylonas
Ioannis
I
Friese
Klaus
K
Sings
Heather L
HL
Railkar
Radha
R
Gause
Christine
C
Barr
Eliav
E
D000293:Adolescent; D052685:Alphapapillomavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000068857:Human Papillomavirus Recombinant Vaccine Quadrivalent, Types 6, 11, 16, 18; D006801:Humans; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D015995:Prevalence; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D055815:Young Adult
D000068857:Human Papillomavirus Recombinant Vaccine Quadrivalent, Types 6, 11, 16, 18; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines